


Kiss Me Slowly

by BarbAndCo



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Tragedy, Character Death, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, jet dies in this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-28 11:35:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30138960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BarbAndCo/pseuds/BarbAndCo
Summary: Jet falls in love with Li one kiss at a time.Or5 times Jet kissed Li, the 5 times Li kissed back, and the 1 time Zuko kissed Jet.
Relationships: Jet/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 61





	Kiss Me Slowly

**Author's Note:**

> This is a prompt fill for 5 times Jet kissed Li and the 1 time he kissed Zuko but I decided to make it hurt.
> 
> Please, read the tags. final warning.

**(1) Ferry**

Jet didn’t think he’d be the type to fall for someone at first sight but when he saw Li, he knew the other boy was special. It wasn’t the scar that intrigued him, though it certainly caught his eye, no it was the way Li carried himself.

Li had a poise and grace that wasn’t common anywhere Jet has been. A rigid elegance that drew Jet’s eyes immediately. The first time he heard the other boy speak, it was an angry tirade and that’s when Jet knew he found exactly what he was looking for.

It didn’t take a lot of convincing for Li to join their little mission. One look back at Li stacking the food on the edge of his blades and Jet felt the telltale signs of falling.

He told Smellerbee and Longshot to go ahead, and they do go but not without giving him knowing and slightly disapproving looks. He shrugged them off and asked Li to have a chat.

“You’re real handy with those swords,” Jet said.

“So are you,” Li replied curtly.

The other boy’s eyes focused on the horizon which left Jet with nothing to do but admire his face.

“You know we could always use someone with your skills.” Jet moved closer, slowly.

“I’m not interested in joining your little group.”

“That’s a shame.”

Li finally turned and saw Jet only inches away from him. He stood his ground, not stepping back or backing down which only made Jet respect him more.

“Are you trying to intimidate me?” Li asked, hands closed into tight fists.

“The opposite.” Jet smiled and did something he’s been wanting to all night. He bent down and kissed Li. It was lightning quick and over before Li could react. When Jet realized what he’s just done, he ran leaving Li dumfounded and blushing angrily.

“I’ll see you around,” he yelled over his shoulder.

That same evening, Li pulled him to some dingy corner of the ship and kissed him soundly leaving Jet breathless and wanting more.

“Don’t ever do that again,” Li whispered in his ear before pulling away.

“Because this is such great incentive not to,” he bit back.

Li pushed him hard against the wall and left in a huff.

Jet stared at the wall for a second before he got his wits about him and went to find his friends. Ba Sing Se might not be so bad after all.

* * *

**(2) Tea Shop**

Waiting for Li’s shift to end was so boring. He has been turning his empty teacup over and over for the past thirty minutes. Li has told him several times that he didn’t have to wait for him, and he has lied to Li several times saying he didn’t mind. They don’t get to hang out together as is since they both worked and Jet had a penchant of going on vigilante missions from time to time. So, he waited here in the shop to spend as much time as he could with Li.

When the last customer finally left the shop, Jet followed Li back to the kitchens. He pulled at the strings of Li’s apron making the other boy glare at him as they walked.

“Are you here to help this time?” Li said in that mix of exasperation and fondness.

“I don’t work here,” Jet replied already grabbing a drying towel from the rack.

Li started soaking the dishes and Jet stood right behind him. He wrapped his arms around Li’s waist. He knew Li hated it when he did that, but Jet couldn’t help himself. Li was in a good mood today because he didn’t even protest when Jet hooked his chin over the other boy’s shoulder.

“Jet,” Li whined. “You’re being a nuisance.”

“I thought I was being cute.” Jet gave him his most innocent smile. He pressed a quick kiss on the spot behind Li’s ear.

Li stopped what he was doing to glare at him and then went back to scrubbing dishes with more vigor. They ignore the way Li has relaxed into Jet’s hold and they don’t say anything about how nice this all was. Holding someone and being held.

“You could help,” Li said after a moment.

“I could,” he agreed.

“Well, will you?”

“One condition.”

“What?”

Jet let go of Li to turn the other boy around, so they were face to face.

“A kiss,” he said.

“You’re ridiculous,” Li scoffed.

“Just a tiny one.”

Jet wasn’t one to beg but he was weak for the adorable blush on Li’s cheeks. Li sighed and leaned back onto the sink crossing his arms over his chest waiting expectantly.

Jet was smiling as he tipped the other boy’s chin up and planted a soft kiss to his lips. He pulled back just in time to see Li open his eyes.

Li shook his head, then grabbed Jet by the collar and kissed him properly. His pulled Li closer, hands finding their way back to the other boy’s waist. Jet’s lips part on their own accord and Li deepens their kiss even more.

Jet was lost in the sensations. If these stolen moments were all they had, he was going to savor each second and hold on for as long as he could.

It was Li who pulled back this time, flushed in the face and breathing heavier.

“There,” Li said. “Now, help me wash these dishes so we can get out of here.”

“You got it.” Jet smiled.

* * *

**(3) Date**

Li asked him out on a date. Or Li told him to show up at a certain time and place and to dress nice.

“Show up or don’t,” were Li’s exact words.

The giddy feeling did not abate at all as Jet found himself standing by the train station waiting for Li to finally get there. He wasn’t nervous. It wasn’t like he hasn’t spent a considerable amount of time with Li—it was just that this was a _date_.

This was different.

Li showed up and he took him by the hand and up the train they went. It wasn’t much of a whirlwind night since they didn’t have money to go anywhere exciting but just being with Li had Jet feeling butterflies. They snuck into a theater where they sat on the high beams watching a drama play out below. He paid more attention to Li than what was happening below. He watched so many different emotions play out on Li’s usually bored, stoic face.

When the curtained closed and the lights switched off, Li turned to him—blushing when he realized Jet was already looking— and asked him what he thought of it.

“It was nice.”

“You weren’t even watching.”

“You’re more interesting.”

Jet leaned in and so did Li. They met in the middle. In the darkness, as the people streamed out of the theater, Jet felt light.

* * *

**(4) Room**

Li walked Jet all the way to his dorm. They held hands the whole way there and the punch-drunk feeling never faded away, not once.

“Why did you ask me out tonight?” Jet asked once they

“I wanted to do something nice for you,” Li said simply.

“Oh.” Jet blinked in surprise. “Thank you.”

“You didn’t even like the play.”

“I like you though.”

Li smiled at him, it was a rare thing and Jet cherished every moment. It was surreal in the way it wasn’t. Holding hands and smiling at each other after a date that went well felt normal—something neither of them ever thought they could have.

Jet wondered then when he got so soft and why it didn’t bother him at all. The answer to both was probably Li.

“Come up,” Jet whispered.

“Okay,” Li answered.

Jet was captivated by Li. He was mesmerized, charmed, and whatever it was that made him feel like his heart was beating out of his chest and his head filled with thoughts of nothing but how to make Li smile at him the way he does.

He looked at Li now, head haloed by the moonlight and he knew he was incredibly lucky. He committed the picture to memory and was sure at that very moment that the answer was Li. He pulled Li down, wanted him even closer than they were now, and kissed him sweet and slow and soft.

This was what it felt like to be in love. This is what it felt like to be loved. He couldn’t be happier.

* * *

**(5) Mission**

“You’re still going tonight?” Li sounded angry but the undercurrent of worry is clear as day to Jet.

He understood why Li was antsy about this mission. Jet was going in alone and he wasn’t telling him the whole story. He didn’t know how to tell him about the Avatar and about what he almost did in Gaipan—the destruction he could have caused to that village… to all those people. It haunted him. He didn’t want any of that to taint what he had here in Ba Sing Se, with Li.

So, Jet kept him int eh dark. The less people who knew the better. He needed to help the Aang, Katara, and the others—he needed to redeem himself.

“Let me come with you,” Li insisted once more.

“I need to do this on my own. It’s safer this way. You know the Dai Le, they’re everywhere.”

“I don’t like this.”

“I’ll see you later,” he promised.

Jet gave Li a chaste kiss. Li chased him when he pulled away, but Jet put a finger over Li’s lips. With a wink, he left Li to go and try to do some good in the world. After that, he’d come back to Li and do what Smellerbee and Longshot wanted. He’d live a normal life.

Jet and Li have a whole life ahead of them here in Ba Sing Se. They can have these small moments too. They can have it all.

* * *

**(+1) Lake Laogai**

It all passed in a haze for Zuko. First, he saw the flyer with the Avatar’s bison, and he knew they were in the city. After months, he had a shot at capturing the Avatar again and regaining his honor. He could come back to the Fire Nation and take back his rightful place, his birthright, as the crowned prince.

He was blinded by the possibility that he could have everything he wanted that he did what he always does and charged head on. He didn’t stop to think about what he’d be giving, who he’d be leaving behind if he ever went back to the Fire Nation.

Zuko reached the chamber where the Avatar’s bison was held. As he stared at the beast, he hesitated. The depth of what he was doing, what he was throwing away finally dawned on him.

A wave of guilt washed over him. He would be betraying everything his uncle has done for him… for what? He raised his swords and heard Jet’s voice at the back of his head, saw Jet’s his smile whenever he closed his eyes, and the felt Jet’s touch still burning on his skin.

He struck down the chains and set the bison free. Whatever was waiting for him back home—no, the city was his home now. He knew his place and that was here with his uncle and wherever Jet was. They could make a life together here. They would.

Zuko heard footsteps approaching, so he bolted. He ran back where he came and was halfway out when he heard a cry. It was a sob, broken and full of grief. It sounded like Smellerbee.

Blood rushed through his ears and his hear beat faster than it ever has. His feet pounded the ground as he sprinted to the source of the sound. There was only one thing on his mind as fear gripped through his very core.

_Jet._

Zuko found himself in a dimly lit chamber, the tunnels. Smellerbee was shaking as Longshot held her to his chest. He stood by the end of the chamber in shock. Lying prone, unmoving on the floor was Jet.

His footsteps echoed through the chamber. Longshot looked up, surprised to see him. He shook his head at Zuko and held Smellerbee tighter.

Zuko finally reached Jet, he knelt to the ground next to him, hesitant to touch but wanting nothing more to feel the warm skin of his love beneath his fingers—scared to reach out.

He brushed Jet’s hair out of his face like he always did.

“Please. Jet,” he whispered with a desperation he never knew he was capable of. “Stay with me. Please. _Jet._ ”

Tears ran freely down his face, blurring his vision. His world torn apart.

Zuko pressed his lips to Jet. A promise. A goodbye.

On that day, in Lake Laogai, Jet died and a part of Zuko died along with him sealed with a kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! a hopefully more fluffy one comes to come soon.


End file.
